It's dark in Marty's world...

Scorsese loses the Oscar once again. It was too painful 'cos I really wish they would just give it to him. 5 times nominated? A crying shame. But, among the high points of the ceremony were the Hillary Swank and Jamie Foxx acceptance speeches. Really did bring tears to my eyes when Swank thanked Clint Eastwood by saying "You're my 'Mo Cuishle,' (translated as "my darling, my blood") and then they close-in on a very emotional Clint. Very touching. Foxx went on to talk about his grandmom and how he missed her. "Now she talks to me in my dreams," he said, breaking down in tears. "And I can't wait to go to sleep tonight because we got a lot to talk about. I love you." They rock! Bloody brilliant.

You are irreplaceable.

REM- Around the sun (Pitchforkmedia)

After the surprise departure of drummer Bill Berry, the remaining members of R.E.M. found themselves unmoored and adrift both professionally and musically. They had always presented R.E.M. as a cohesive, democratic whole, with all four members receiving equal songwriting credit. Despite their one-time vow not to move forward as anything but a quartet, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe stuck it out after Berry left. Some fans considered this to be an unfortunate decision, but the remaining members seemed to view it as an opportunity to redefine their sound. R.E.M.'s first post-Berry album, 1998's Up, picked up not where its predecessor, New Adventures in Hi-Fi, left off, but where Radiohead's OK Computer did, with the trio taking a touristic trip into synths, programmed beats, and sound effects, and quoting Pet Sounds almost verbatim on "At My Most Beautiful". It sounded like a transitional record, but then so did the follow-up, Reveal.

On their third post-Berry album, Around the Sun, Buck, Mills, and Stipe have settled on an uneasy mixture of textureless production and tentative stabs at past glory. On lead track and first single, "Leaving New York", Stipe harmonizes with himself in a low voice that could have been sampled from Reckoning. "Final Straw" borrows its whirling organ from Out of Time's "Low", and Q-Tip's cameo on "The Outsider" recalls KRS-One's appearance on "Radio Song". Around the Sun sounds more straightforward than its two predecessors, however none of the instruments-- including Stipe's voice-- sound live or organic. Instead, they have a sparkling sheen, which has never been the best trait for either Stipe's vocals or Buck's usually piercing guitar.

Concurrent with the band's move away from its rootsy jangle was a trend in Stipe's songwriting toward the blandly declarative, which began with "Everybody Hurts". Each subsequent album has contained more and more full-sentence song titles-- "You're in the Air", "I've Been High", "She Just Wants to Be", "I'll Take the Rain", etc. This tendency seems foreign and unexpected coming from a songwriter who in the past sounded unwilling to settle for easy answers, and who even parsed the difference between asking and telling on "Fall on Me".
Perhaps it's impending middle age, perhaps it's the empty drum stool, or perhaps it's Stipe's role as the pop culture attache for the American political left, but his lyrics have become lazily explanatory: No longer content to question the world, Stipe seems intent on simply describing it, often in the most anodyne terms. "It's harder to leave than to be left behind," he sings on "Leaving New York". Elsewhere, he says, "Open up your eyes/ You're so alive" ("Aftermath"), "There's love at the end of the line" ("High Speed Train"), and, "Some things don't hold up over the course of a lifetime" ("Worst Joke Ever"). Too often Stipe sounds like a parent passing on received wisdom to children. At worst, this tendency is grossly arrogant; at best, it's merely complacent, as if success has excused R.E.M. from searching beyond platitudes.

But Around the Sun manages to overcome at least some of its shortcomings thanks to Stipe's new role as shunned lover. Having once promised he would never write a love song-- or lip-sync in a video, or carry on past 1999, or play as a trio-- he sounds very new to the form, and songs like "Make It All OK" and "High Speed Train" even sound endearingly awkward and vulnerable.

Elsewhere, Stipe's love songs are more cryptic. On "The Outsiders", he sings about meeting someone for dinner and getting life-changing news, but he never reveals the terrible secret. "Make It All OK"-- about recriminations between lovers-- gives Stipe his best line: He answers rejection with the taunt, "Jesus loves me fine." His tone is so self-serious that the song sounds bled of its humor, pathos approaching bathos. But Stipe's romantic confusion-- and the unprecedented hints at what may or may not be his personal life-- gives "Make It All OK" and "Aftermath" a prismatically emotional quality, their flaws so naked that they become strengths.

It's too bad the same can't be said of Around the Sun in its entirety. Its chief problem is that every word, every note, and every instrument sounds dry, sapped of most of their personality. Whereas R.E.M. were once Southern eccentrics trying to figure things out, and making lasting music in the process, lately they sound neither Southern nor eccentric and, more to the point, their music is far from memorable.

Sound of Muzak

Hear the sound of music. Drifting in the aisles. Elevator prozac. Stretching on for miles. The music of the future. Will not entertain. It's only meant to repress. And neutralise your brain. Soul gets squeezed out. Edges get blunt. Demographic. Gives what you want. Now the sound of music. Comes in silver pills. Engineered to suit you. Building cheaper thrills. The music of rebellion. Makes you wanna rage. But it's made by millionaires. Who are nearly twice your age. One of the wonders of the world is going down. It's going down I know. It's one of the blunders of the world that no-one cares. No-one cares enough.

"pt rocks"

Speaking to a friend who is getting divorced. He is a terrible mess. Very depressed. Feels very alienated. Single is the best, isnt it? Few people are lucky but there are also others who are as lucky. Lucky, no time for love? Uff, bad one.

Hammurabimanusolomon says:
man, be single
Hammurabimanusolomon says:
dont look for anyone.
Hammurabimanusolomon says:
it will come when it has to
Hammurabimanusolomon says:
i am happily single. its the best.
Hammurabimanusolomon says:
enrolled for piano class. i am happy.
Hammurabimanusolomon says:
find OTHER loves

*spot on* :)

Nostalgia's Knife II

I was listening to Jamiroquai today and when "Blow your mind" played I remembered the times we had. I missed you. I really did love you. The way you danced and moved your head with the music really blew my mind. I have never seen anything more beautiful. :(

somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond
any experience, your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near
your slightest look will easily unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully, mysteriously)her first rose
or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;
nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility:whose texture
compels me with the color of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing
(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens; only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands.

-"ee"

The Arrival

So, finally the PLACE project arrived. :) It was truly a mindblowing experience seeing my art in that book. I have never felt better. While I was writing to Enric at Vasava thanking him and stuff, I had tears in my eyes. It was very emotional. Finally, my work is out there. Someone is seeing it at the Contemporary Modern Art of Barcelona museum. Someone will be holding this book and flipping through the corridors of my mind. Feels good. God is great. :)

Left-hand page, single page

Face it. Braid the rationale. Its the second thing. Take a decision. Push. Through today. A service. Broken chain. Really never drink. Whiskey and other than that I started drinking coffee. Don Pedro is our southern superstar in a cup. He is half-an-inch long. Coffee with cologne. Instead of the last option. The woman on the boat. I didnt like it that much. Two seconds.The ones you did for me on Thursday. In a glass. In a wine glass. If thats a wine glass, its three-quarters. Cant find it. That strong amnesty. Its work begins. Red heart. Black-tangled. Sorted by date. Give me three options. February sixteenth, severed, in my weekly trash. Its different. Is this going to be a campaign? The frequency ones. Yeah. Also there is a more factor. Everyones been there. Its been done. Done with trees. We got the annual report. Its clear, no? We are talking about the rubberband. Right? Wrong. Its all wrong. Its all clear. Face it.

The transluscence is almost white. Things are becoming clearer. I am happier. I am sober, now. :)

The client wants...

...to make the logo bigger. He wants the word "FREE" in red. Also If we can make the fonts a 12-point, that would be great. He likes verdana, can we see an option with verdana in 12-point and preferably in black. Also, he doesnt like the black and white photographs. Can we see an option with the photographs in color? Other than these, he loves it. You're a star, Prem.

One day

Once upon a time there were three men. They looked alike and thought alike. But one day one of them got run over by a bus. The other two felt very sad. Both of them had 1 shot of sad in a total of 3 shots of emotion. All those who spoke to them could see through the facade of their happy faces and look into the depression. They were only part of a whole. Slowly their psyche deteriorated into a plateau of stone. They didnt feel. They didnt smile. They never overreacted. They sat in a corner and wrote long poems about life in a cube. :)

Sketchbookutol

Sketch some pain. Dark and black. Come to me. Fly and crack. Steal some stones. On and on. Come to me. Break my bones. A light machine. Frail and tall. Knife in back. Red river fall.

the harvestor is near,

this blade is on your skin,

to plant a new beginning,

let the cut begin...

:)

Its time to wake up to the sound of the new day. Its time to get into shape. Its time to wake up early. Its time to learn the piano. Its time to do the things I like. Its time to spend more time with good friends. Its time to understand who I am. Its time to understand who you are. Its time to listen. Its time to know... all in all is all we are.